Today’s ‘Super Pinays’

“The migration of mothers has brought untold agony to the families left behind. Today, an entire generation of Filipino children is growing up motherless.” 6 --

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

Most migrant women workers are single, under 30 years old and in their prime reproductive years.1,3 However, there are also many Filipina migrant workers who are married with families and children.3 All of these women confront harsh working conditions away from home with hopes of providing a better life for themselves and the family they left behind.

“The majority of Filipina migrant workers are toiling in the service industry, providing various forms ofnurturing and caregiving, whether as domestic helpers, nannies, chambermaids, nurses, hospital attendants, or even as entertainers and bar companions.”4,11 Service industry jobs increase women’s vulnerability because they are frequently isolated in individualized service, not covered or protected by labor and social policies provided to nationals.”3Women Workers

in LebanonOf the 29,412 documented workers in Lebanon 97 percent are women, [the] majority of whom work as domestic helpers (Center for Women Resources). There are around 6,000 undocumentedFilipinas working in Lebanon.4

WANTED: Health Workers Back HomeWhile millions of Filipinos are filling the labor needs of countries abroad, The Philippines is fast losing skilled workers in criticalsectors, including health, education, mining, engineering, shipping and port operations and aviation.11 Eight five per cent of the country’s trained nurses are now working abroad, with 100,000having left in the past ten years. 11 Many doctors are also training to become nurses due to easier entrance requirements in foreigncountries.13 This outflow of medical personnel causes hospitals to lose skilled workers and senior staff faster than they can recruit and train replacements.13 The

Philippine HospitalAssociation reported that 200 hospitals shut down from 2003 to 2005 due to a shortage of doctors and nurses, and 800 hospitals were forced to close down one or more wards for want of personnel. 14